How to Control an Android Phone From a Computer
One of Apple’s best recent features is iPhone mirroring , which allows you to control your iPhone from your Mac. Scrcpy is a free app for Linux, Windows, and macOS that does the same thing: lets you control your Android phone from a window on your computer.
This app requires some effort to set up – firstly, it runs from the terminal or command line and only works if you enable developer mode on your Android phone. However, once you set it up, you’ll be able to control your Android’s screen from your computer, or even enable a virtual screen so you can run apps when your phone is turned off.
First, you need to install Scrcpy (it’s just a “screen copy” without the vowels). The easiest way to do this is to use a package manager such as Homebrew for Mac or Scoop for Windows . Linux users can use any package manager included with their distribution. It is recommended to use a package manager as it will also install all the dependencies, meaning it will install all the tools and drivers required for the application to work.
If you don’t have a package manager or just prefer not to use one, you can download the latest version and try running it directly. The Github page has instructions for Linux, macOS and Windows. Although this will be a more difficult option. You’ll need to make sure all dependencies are installed, so check the documentation for more details.
As always, be careful when downloading the app. Don’t download Scrcpy from a third party website – either use the package manager mentioned in the documentation or download it from the official Github page.
After installation, you need to enable USB debugging on your phone, for which you need to enable developer mode. To get started, go to Settings > About Phone and tap Build Number until you see the message “ You are now a developer.” A new submenu will open under the System section called Developer Options . Open it and enable USB debugging . You should now see a message about this feature when you connect your phone.
Connect your phone to your computer and you can start managing your Android. The easiest way to get started is to simply type scrcp in the command line or terminal – this will take control of your phone. If you want, you can even open the camera app and point it at the screen to create an extremely intricate screenshot.
If this doesn’t work, you can check a few things. Firstly, have you installed all the dependencies. The easiest way to solve this problem is to use a package manager instead of installing directly. On Windows, you may not have the correct drivers installed or you may not have USB debugging enabled. More information can be found in the official FAQ .
By default, you get an exact reproduction of what’s currently on your phone, but that doesn’t have to be the case. For example: You can put a virtual phone display on your computer, allowing you to run Android apps when your phone’s screen is turned off. Just type scrcpy --new-display=1920x1080 and you’re done. This is great if you have Android games on your computer that you want to play. If you just want to use your computer’s mouse and keyboard to control the phone but not see the image on the screen, you can do it with scrcpy --otg and you should be able to do it.
However, you can do much more. I highly recommend digging into the documentation to find out about this. I promise it’s fun.